Dentistry Case Study

Real Life Example: Bogie

Bogie is a 9 year-old Maltese. He is a fairly new patient at Southport Vet Center. His owners brought him in recently when they smelled an odor coming from his mouth. A dental cleaning, evaluation and full mouth x-rays were recommended by Dr. Hart after she completed a full examination and blood testing. Dr. Larson performed an oral exam under anesthesia and found several loose teeth, pockets of infection and visible bone loss. Dental x-rays revealed sever bone loss and periodontal disease, requiring extraction of 28 painful teeth. Bogie is recovering well and eating great just days after the extensive procedure!

Daily at-home brushing and yearly dental cleanings with x-rays could have prevented most of these teeth from becoming infected. Please schedule an exam to have your pet’s teeth evaluated before you notice trouble eating or bad breath.

Photo above: This is Bogie’s dental x-ray revealing severe bone loss around the roots of several premolars. See how the normal white-colored bone dips down below the roots (towards the left side of the image). This bone does not grow back after such extensive damage, and the affected teeth need to be removed to save the healthy teeth.

Left photo: Picture showing significant dental tartar, covering 100% of most of his teeth. You can also see gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums.

Right photo: Image taken after infected teeth were removed and extraction sites were sutured closed.

Note: Bogie’s owners kindly gave us pemission to tell his story, so that other pet owners could learn about the importance of dental care from their experience.